Soap tray



Nov. 30 1926. 1,608,928

E. L. DENNIS SOAP TRAY Filed Feb 12, 1925 iiyi.

\u: HE c: a u (Y Patented Nov. 30, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT ossicn.

'ELM'ER L. DENNIS, or ROCKFORD, IILLINOIS, AssIGNon'To wasnnennCOIiI'PANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A conrona'rron orMASSACHWSETTS.

SOAP TRAY.

Application tiled February This invent-ion relates to a novel soap trayand among the objects thereof are to providea tray which can beeconomically manufactured and one so constructed that the soap can heslid easily out of the tray and will not be scraped off on the front "ofthe tray when it is being removed therefrom. Another obj ect is toprovide a soap tray of simile and novel construction characterized by aframe and a bottom, the latter being formed of a single piece of wirebent or reflexed to provide both the bottom and ends of the tray.

Other objects and attendant advantages will be appreciated by those skilled in this art as the invention becomes better understood by referenceto the following descrip tion when considered in connection with theaccompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a soaptray embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view; and

Fig. 3 is an end elevation thereof. 7

Referring to the drawing in detail, in which similar referencecharacters designate corresponding parts throughout the several viewsthe soap tray includes a frame 5 preferably of a piece of comparativelyheavy or stout wire bent in substantially rectangular outline to form afront portion 6, ends or sides 7 and a back portion 8. The ends of thewire forming the frame may be welded or otherwise connected as indicatedat 9 and the corners of the frame are preferably rounded as indicated at10.

The back of the frame is provided with an upright supporting member orbracket 11, also preferably formed of wire and having an upwardly curvedconnecting portion 12 at the top provided with downward extending ends13, the extremities of which are spot-welded or soldered to the backportion 8 of the frame 5 as indicated at 14. The supporting member 11 isformed with open loops or eyes 15 at the juncture of the portion 12 withthe depending end portions 18, said loops or eyes extending upwardly andoutwardly to engage nails, screws or other supports mounted at the backof a sink or other upright or on a cabinet where it is desired tosuspend the tray.

The bottom ends of the tray are formed of a single strand or length ofwire, the bottom 16 being formed by bending the wire 12, 1925. SerialNo. 8,650.

backand forth in U shaped or zigzag formation to extend transversely ofthe frame. This provides a series of parallel transverse portions 17 andalternately closed cars 18 and open ends '19, the bent portions 18 beingsoldered, welded 'or otherwise fastened to the front and rear portions 6and 8 of the frame 5 :as indicated at 20. The ends of the strand orsection of wire forming the bottom 16 are extended between the front andback portions of the frame at an elevation or bent about midway betweenthe depressed bottom portions of the transverse portions 17 and the ends7 or horizontal plane of the frame of the tray. It will be noted thatthe transverse portions 17 ex tenr'l su'l'istantially straight downwardbut are slightly inclined forwardly at the back of the frame and traybottom as indicated at '21, and are bent or curved forwardly in a quiteabrupt rounding curve as indicated at 22, while the forward portionsextend forwardly and upwardly in a gradual curve or inclination asindicated at 2-3 and are joined to the front portion 6 of the frame asindicated at 2-1 substantially at a tangent to the periphery of thefront portion at the inside or back thereof so as not to scrape the soapoff when ren'ioving the soap from the tray.

It will also be noted that the ends are curved substantially the same asthe transverse bottom portions 17 and the extremities or terminals areanchored by soldering or welding to the front corners of the frame asindicated at 26. Owing to the fact that the end port-ions 25 arepositioned in a plane substantially midway between the bottom portions17 and the ends of the frame, these end portions form barriers to closethe ends of the tray and prevent displacement of the soap therefrom.

An advantage of the present construction over previous devices is thatthe bottom and ends forming the tray proper are formed from a singlelength or strand of wire thus eliminating the operation of cutting thewire into short sections and facilitating manufacturing in quantities byeliminating unnecessary and multitudinous operations in handling aseries of short pieces of wire and fastening same to the frame of thetray. The number of fastenings is also reduced to about one-half. Itbeing only necessary to bend the wire forming the bottom of the HIS whenremoving it from the tray.

tray in the desired shape, and then anchor the same as a single elementto the frame, so that when the ends of the wire forming the bottom arewelded to the frame, they also form the ends of the tray bottom toprevent the soap from falling out at the ends of the tray. Thisconstruction using a one-piece bottom avoids the likelihood ofdisconnection of the parts, that is, if any one of the welds breaks, thesegment relying on the Weld is supported by the adjacent segments and bythe entire body of the tray bottom which is mounted on the frame. Thebottom wire is so welded to the under side of the front part or side 6of the frame of the tray as to provide an inclined front withoutobstruction between the bottom wire and the front wire, so that thesurface is unbroken or practically continuous, thus eliminating thescraping of the soap I also wish to have it understood that while I havespecified wire and shown the same of round cross section, any othersuitable material of desired cross section may be employed in lieuthereof and that various other changes in the form, proportion andrelation of the parts, as well as the manner of connecting the same andproviding a support for the tray or frame thereof, may be resorted towithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention ashereinafter claimed.

I claim:

A soap tray of the character described, comprising a generallyrectangular heavy wire main frame, and a one-piece relatively light Wiresoap-supporting tray bottom arranged to be welded to said main frame,said Wire being formed by zigzag bending into a generally rectangularWire body of approximately the length of said frame which is struck intoa trough shape whereby the bonds of the wire at the front and back ofthe tray are spaced to align with the front and back spans of the wiremain frame, said wire bottom being welded at the'bends to said wire mainframe leav ing no portion of the wire main frame projecting beyond theplane of the surface of the tray bottom in the front of the tray, andthe end spans of said wire bottom being struck at the same time With therest of the bottom to extend across the open ends of the bottom fromfront to back thereof to form end barriers for the soap supported in thetray, said end spans being: likewise welded to said frame at the frontand back ends thereof.

ELMEB L. DENNIS.

